Medicine feeder

ABSTRACT

A medicine feeder is composed of: a cassette ( 2 ) for housing medicines D in an array; a biasing member ( 6 ) for biasing the medicines D in the cassette ( 2 ) toward one end side; and a discharge member ( 16 ) disposed on one end portion of the cassette ( 2 ) for holding a medicine D in a holding recess portion ( 18 ) and discharging the medicines D one at a time by rotating the discharge member. This makes it possible to ensure the discharge of a prescribed quantity of medicines based on prescription data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a medicine feeder which allowsdischarge of medicines singly.

2. Description of Related Art

Medicines are conventionally housed in cassettes which are contained ina stock shelf in such a way that the cassettes can be pulled out.According to need, the cassettes are pulled out from the stock shelf todischarge appropriate medicines.

However, in the case of using the stock shelf, the location of thecassettes contained therein may affect access to the medicines housed inthe cassettes since the medicines should be taken and held from an upperaperture of the pulled-out cassettes. Further, as a quantity ofmedicines housed in the cassettes is increased, not only the cassettesthemselves are hard to pulled out, but also medicines housed on the backside of the cassettes are difficult remove. Further, in the case of amedicine such as anticancer drugs whose administration is strictlyrestricted, it is not desirable to allow free access to the medicine.However, adopting the structure featuring such solution as locking willdeteriorate workability and also require an additional operation toconfirm that the medicines are securely locked up.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providea medicine feeder which makes it possible to ensure discharge of aprescribed quantity of medicines based on prescription data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, as a means to solve the problemstated above, there is provided a medicine feeder comprising: a cassettefor housing medicines in array; biasing member for biasing the medicinesin the cassette toward one end side; and a discharge member disposed onone end portion of the cassette so as to be rotatable between areception position and an extraction position, wherein the dischargemember has: a holding recess portion for holding only one medicinebiased by the biasing member upon rotation to the reception position andfor maintaining a holding state of the held medicine so that themedicine can be extracted from outside upon rotation to the extractionposition; and a support face formed on an opposite side of the holdingrecess portion so as to be able to support a next medicine when thedischarge member rotates to the extraction position.

This structure makes it possible to ensure discharge of the medicinesconstantly at the same extraction position with minimum necessaryoperation. Also, in the state that the holding recess portion of thedischarge member is rotated to the extraction position, confirmation ofthe medicine can be performed. In addition, in the case of returning themedicine to the cassette, it can be achieved only by rotating thedischarge member so that the holing recess portion moves to thereception position. In this case, the support face formed on theopposite side of the holding recess portion supports the next medicine,so that the medicine held in the holding recess portion is returned tothe cassette smoothly. This makes it possible to enhance workability inthe operation for extracting and housing the medicines.

It is desirable to include: medicine detection member for detectingwhether or not a medicine is present in the holding recess portion whenthe discharge member is positioned at the extraction position; andcontrol device for allowing driving of the discharge member based onprescription data and a detection signal in the medicine detectionmember, which allows automatic discharge of a desired quantity ofmedicines.

It is desirable to include a lock member for disabling the dischargemember from rotating, wherein the control device controls the lockmember so as to lock the discharge member at the reception position whendischarge of a prescribed quantity of medicines based on prescriptiondata is completed, which makes it possible to ensure automaticprevention of unauthorized discharge of medicines without manualassistance.

It is desirable that the discharge member has a notch on opposite wallsconstituting the holding recess portion to facilitate holding of themedicine, which allows easier operation of medicine discharge.

It is to be noted that the biasing means should preferably be structuredto be able to apply a fixed load regardless of a quantity of medicineshoused in the cassette, which allows more smooth operation of medicinedischarge.

It is also possible to provide a medicine quantity detection means fordetecting a quantity of medicines in the cassette, the medicine quantitydetection means having: a sensor for detecting a biased position by thebiasing means in an initial state where medicines are not housed in thecassette; and an encoder for detecting change in the biased position ofmedicines by the biasing means caused by housing the medicines in thecassettes from the initial state detected by the sensor.

The discharge means may comprise a rotor, and an outer circumferentialface of the rotor for supporting a next medicine may be formed so as notto chance a position of the next medicine through rotating movement.

The discharge means may comprise a rotor, and

the control means may automatically return the rotor to a standbyposition if a specified time is passed while the rotor is positioned atthe discharge position.

The cassette may be disposed so that housed medicines are arrayed inhorizontal direction so as to be discharged one by one in sequence fromone end side by the discharge means.

The cassette may be disposed so that housed medicines are arrayed invertical direction so as to be discharged one by one in sequence from anupper end by the discharge means.

The cassette may be disposed so that vials containing medicines with anupper aperture closed by a lid are housed in a state of being arrayed inhorizontal direction in a standing position.

The discharge means may comprise a rotor, and the cassette is structuredto be mounted on and dismounted from each housing portion of a stockshelf and has a lock member for preventing the rotor from rotating whenthe cassette is dismounted from the housing portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a medicine feeder in thepresent embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one example of acassette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a rotor adoptable for the cassetteof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3B is a cross sectional view showing the rotor adoptable for thecassette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a side view showing the cassette shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4B is an enlarged view showing a rotor portion;

FIG. 4C is an enlarged view showing a stepping motor portion;

FIG. 5 is a view showing the cassette shown in FIG. 4A in a medicinedischarge state;

FIG. 6 is a view showing the cassette shown in FIG. 4A in a lockedstate;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a part of the front side of ahousing portion shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a part of the back side of thehousing portion shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the medicine feeder in the presentembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the operation process in the medicinefeeder in the present embodiment;

FIG. 11A is a plan view showing a cassette in another embodiment;

FIG. 11B is a side view of FIG. 11A;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing a rotational driving mechanism of arotor in another embodiment;

FIG. 13A is a plan view showing a cassette having an encoder in anotherembodiment;

FIG. 13B is a front view of FIG. 13A;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a rotational driving mechanism of arotor in another embodiment;

FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B are schematic views showing a discharge mechanismin another embodiment;

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B are schematic views showing comparison of movementtracks of support faces each having a shaft portion of the rotor placedin a position different from each other;

FIG. 17A is a side view showing the side of a gear of the rotationaldriving mechanism of the rotor in still another embodiment after acassette is mounted on a housing portion;

FIG. 17B is a side view showing the rotational driving mechanism of therotor in the another embodiment before the cassette is mounted on thehousing portion;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a rotor portion of the cassette inthe another embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view viewed from the opposite side relative tothat of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a housing portion inthe another embodiment;

FIG. 21A is a side view showing the side of a lock member of therotational driving mechanism of the rotor in the another embodimentbefore the cassette is mounted on the housing portion;

FIG. 21B is a side view showing the rotational driving mechanism of therotor in the another embodiment before the cassette is mounted on thehousing portion;

FIG. 22A is a plan view showing a cover mounted on the cassette;

FIG. 22B is a cross sectional view of FIG. 22A;

FIG. 23A is a cross sectional front view showing a rotational drivingmechanism of a motor in still another embodiment;

FIG. 23B is an exploded plan view of FIG. 23A;

FIG. 24A is a cross sectional front view showing a rotational drivingmechanism of a motor in another embodiment;

FIG. 24B is a front view of FIG. 24A;

FIG. 24C is a front view showing the rotor of FIG. 24B in the state ofbeing rotated;

FIG. 25 is a view showing a finger print recognition screen.

FIG. 26 is a view showing an OK/NG selection screen;

FIG. 27 is a view showing a various operations screen;

FIG. 28 is a view showing an auto/manual screen;

FIG. 29 is a view showing a processed clients list screen;

FIG. 30 is a view showing a discharge operation screen;

FIG. 31 is a view showing an inquiry operation menu screen;

FIG. 32 is a view showing a prescription history inquiry screen;

FIG. 33 is a view showing a medicine administration search screen;

FIG. 34 is a view showing a medicine usage screen;

FIG. 35 is a view showing a replenishing operation screen;

FIG. 36 is a view showing a medicine usage per doctor screen;

FIG. 37 is a view showing a medicine usage per ward screen;

FIG. 38 is a view showing a medicine usage per controlled medicinescreen;

FIG. 39 is a view showing a master maintenance screen;

FIG. 40 is a view showing a medicine master screen;

FIG. 41 is a view showing a daily report menu screen;

FIG. 42 is a view showing a daily report on replenishment screen;

FIG. 43 is a perspective view showing a rotor portion of a cassette inanother embodiment;

FIG. 44A is a schematic explanatory view showing a rotational drivingmechanism shown in FIG. 43 in an unlock position;

FIG. 44B is a fragmentary detailed perspective view of FIG. 44A;

FIG. 45A is a schematic explanatory view showing the rotational drivingmechanism shown in FIG. 43 in a reference position;

FIG. 45B is a schematic explanatory view showing the rotational drivingmechanism shown in FIG. 43 in an unlock position; and

FIG. 45C is a schematic explanatory view showing the rotational drivingmechanism shown in FIG. 43 in the state of being rotated to a dischargeposition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a medicine feeder in the present embodiment. In themedicine feeder, a plurality of cassettes 2 are housed in a stock shelf1 in matrix state. It is to be noted that an operation display panel 200is provided on the front face of the stock shelf 1 to allowpredetermined input and display.

The stock shelf 1 includes a plurality of housing portions 3 with thecassettes 2 dismountable or removable therefrom. On the bottom faceconstituting each housing portion 3, there is parallely provided a pairof guide rails (unshown) for guiding the cassette 2 along the detachmentdirection. Moreover, on the upper face side constituting each housingportion 3, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, there is provided a biasingmember 4 for sending a medicine D housed in the cassette 2 toward thefront side of the stock shelf 1. The biasing member 4 is composed of aplate-like slide member 5 moving along guide members 30, 31 provided onfacing surfaces, and a constant-load spring 6 for biasing the slidemember 5 toward the front side of the stock shelf 1. On the facingsurfaces of the guide members 30, 31, there is formed a protrusion line7 extending along a longitudinal direction, and a bearing 8 of the slidemember 5 rolls on the upper and lower faces of the protrusion line 7. Onthe lower face of one guide member 30, there is formed a cassettepressing portion 9 extending along a longitudinal direction, whichpresses a later-described lid body 17 for preventing the medicine D fromfloating up when the cassette 2 is mounted on the housing portion 3. Theconstant-load spring 6 is integrated with a rotary shaft 10 rotatablyprovided on the back side of the stock shelf 1 and with an encoder 11.The encoder 11 is in a disc shape, and a plurality of slits are formedon an outer circumferential portion along a circumferential directionwith prescribed pitches. Each slit is detected by a remaining quantitysensor 12 and a rotating position is counted so that a quantity of themedicines D in the cassette 2 mounted on the housing portion 3 can bedetected. A spring portion of the constant-load spring 6 is connected toa wire 13. The wire 13 is extended to the front side of the stock shelf1 through a rectangular hole 30 a formed on one guide member 30, and isconnected to the slide member 5 through a roller 14. Consequently,regardless of movement destination positions, the slide member 5 isconstantly biased toward the front side of the stock shelf 1 with acertain force. In the vicinity of the roller 14, an origin reset sensor15 is placed. Without the cassette 2 mounted on the housing portion 3,the slide member 5 is positioned on the front side of the stock shelf 1through the wire 13 by virtue of the constant-load spring 6. The originreset sensor 15 is used to detect the slide member 5 moved to the frontside while the cassette 2 is not yet mounted and to reset the count bythe encoder 11. More particularly, the size of one medicine occupyingthe longitudinal direction of the cassette 2 (diameter in ampul andwidth size in medicine box) and an output pulse value from the encoder11 are associated in advance and stored. Then, when the cassette 2 ismounted, a quantity of the medicines D is calculated based on the outputpulse generated when the slide member 5 is pushed by the housed medicineD and moved to the back side. In the case of discharging the medicine D,a remaining quantity of the medicines D is calculated by subtracting adetected output pulse value of the encoder 11 from an output pulse valuestored when the cassette 2 is mounted.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the cassettes 2 is in a groove shape open tothe upper side, and a rotor 16 serving as the discharge member isprovided on one end portion so that the medicines D can be dischargedsingly. Further, in the cassette 2, a lid body 17 which covers a part ofthe cassette 2 along the upper aperture edge portion is rotatablyprovided in the state of being biased toward the closed direction. Inthe cassette 2, the medicines D are housed in an arrayed state, and apart of the housed medicines D is pressed by the cassette pressingportion 9 (see FIG. 7). Further, an a coupling recess portion (notshown) is formed on the bottom face of the cassette 2, and a hook (notshown) provided on the side of the stock shelf 1 is coupled therewith sothat when the cassette 2 is mounted, clicking sensation is provided.Further, a recess portion 2 a (not shown in FIG. 2) is formed on thefront side of the cassette 2, that is the side wall on which the rotor16 is provided, so that when the cassette 2 is pulled out from the stockshelf 1, the cassette 2 is easy to grasp with the fingers.

The rotor 16 includes a small-size rotor for discharging ampules and thelike as shown in FIG. 2 and a large-size rotor for discharging boxeshousing vials and the like as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. As shown in FIG.3, the rotor 16 has a holding recess portion 18 for holding the medicineD. A notch 19 is formed on both side faces constituting the holdingrecess portion 18 for assisting easy discharge of the medicine D. Atleast on the right end-side outer circumferential portion of the rotor16 (or the left end-side outer circumferential portion), there is formeda recess portion 16 a which is connected to the recess portion 2 aformed on the cassette 2 at a holding position. The recess portion 16 ais provided if the cassette 2 is small and so the recess portion 2 a isnot enough for assisting gripping with the fingers. On the centralportion on the end face of the rotor 16, a shaft portion 20 protrudesand is rotatably supported by the cassette 2. As shown in FIG. 4, afirst gear 21 is integrated with the shaft portion 20, and is engagedwith a second gear 22 provided on the cassette 2. An end portion of along plate-like first link 23 is rotatably linked to an outercircumferential portion of the second gear 22.

On the other end portion of the first link 23, there is formed aprotrusion 23 a which can be pressed by one end portion of an almostV-shaped second link 24 which is rotatably provided on the cassette 2about a spindle 24 a. Moreover, in the vicinity of the protrusion 23 a,a coupling notch portion 23 b is formed. With the coupling notch portion23 b, a coupling piece (not shown) rotatably provided on the cassette 2is coupled. The coupling piece, which is rotated in forward and backwarddirection by driving of a motor (not shown), disables the first link 23from moving while it is coupled with the coupling notch portion 23 b soas to maintain the rotor 16 in a locked state.

The second link 24 is driven so as to have backward and forward rotationbased on the driving force of a stepping motor 25 transmitted via a gear25 a. A magnet (not shown) is disposed on the spindle 24 a at threelocations and each magnet is detected by a sensor 26 so that the secondlink 24 (see FIG. 4A) can be stopped at a standby position (see FIG.4A), an operating position (see FIG. 5), and a locked position (see FIG.6), respectively. In the case where the second link 24 is positioned atthe standby position, the rotor 16 is positioned, through the first link23, the second gear 22 and the first gear 21, at a holding position forholding the medicine D in the cassette 2 in the holding recess portion18 as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 4B. At this point, the recessportion 2 a formed on the cassette 2 and the recess portion 16 a formedon the rotor 16 are positioned to be continued, so that by getting thefingers caught in this continued portion, the cassette 2 can be pulledout from the stock shelf 1. When the second link 24 is rotated to theoperating position shown in FIG. 5, the rotor 16 rotates, through thefirst link 23, the second gear 22 and the first gear 21, to anextraction position shown by a center line in FIG. 5, so that themedicine D held in the holding recess portion 18 can be extracted. Whenthe second link 24 is rotated to the locked position shown in FIG. 6,the rotor 16 is disabled from rotating. Whether the medicine D is heldin the holding recess portion 18 when the rotor 16 is rotated to theextraction position is detected by a medicine detection sensor (notshown).

On the outer face of the rotor 16, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, thereare formed a support face 27 a for supporting the next medicine D whenthe rotor 16 rotates while holding the medicine D in the holding recessportion 18, and a planar face 27 b for sticking a label on which amedicine name is printed.

The outer shape of the rotor 16 is determined as follows. First, acolumn having a holding recess portion 18 large enough to be able tohouse a medicine D is assumed, with the center of its axis being alignedto the central position of the medicine D. Then, on the end face of therotor 16, a shaft portion 20 is provided in a protruding manner so as tobe positioned on the lower side of the center of the axis of the columnand on its one end side (front side of the stock shelf 1). Then, asupport face 27 a is formed on a circle around the shaft portion 20.Further, a planar face 27 b connected to the support face 27 a is formedin a position which allows easy visual inspection from the front sidewhen the rotor 16 is positioned at the holding position.

In the meantime, in order to prevent the track of the support face 27 awhen the rotor 16 is rotated from moving in forward and backwarddirections with respect to the next medicine D, the shaft portion 20should preferably be positioned on the side as low as possible. As shownin FIG. 16A, if the shaft portion 20 is on the same plane as thelowermost portion of the medicine D, that is the bottom face of thecassette 2, then the next medicine D will not move forward and backwardeven when the rotor 16 rotates. However, if the shaft portion 20 ispositioned on the lower side, in view of occupied space of the rotor 16,it is difficult to increase the scale of integration of the cassettes 2which are disposed so as to be vertically stacked. Accordingly, in thisembodiment, the shaft portion 20 is structured such that downwarddisplacement with respect to a center C of the medicine D is suppressedand displacement toward the front side is increased.

Consequently, while the occupied space of the rotor 16 in the verticaldirection of the cassette 2 is suppressed, the track of the support face27 a which is generated when the rotor 16 rotates from the holdingposition to the discharge position (in the case where the medicine D isheld in the holding recess portion 18 so as to slightly protrude fromthe holding recess portion 18 in consideration of interference betweenthe rotor 16 and the next medicine D, the track of a corner portion ofthe medicine D held in the holding recess portion 18) is kept almostunchanged with respect to the array direction of the medicines D housedin the cassette 2, which allows suppression of dislocation of the nextmedicine D.

It is to be noted that when the rotor 16 rotates, friction force betweenthe support face 27 a and the next medicine D acts as force to lift thenext medicine D, though the lid body 17 prevents the medicine D fromfloating up. Further, the shaft portion 20 of the rotor 16 should beprovided so as to be displaced toward the support face 27 a. Forexample, if the discharge direction of the medicines D is changed fromthe above-stated counterclockwise direction to clockwise direction, theshaft portion 20 should be displaced toward the upper front side.

As shown in FIG. 9, in addition to input signals and processing datafrom the remaining quantity sensor 12, the origin reset sensor 15 andthe medicine detection sensor 26, input signals of a user recognitionunit 32 are also inputted into a control unit 33. The control unit 33controls driving of the stepping motor 25 and the like in response tothe input signals. The user recognition unit 32 can adopt variousrecognition means such as use of user IDs and passwords, finger printrecognition and iris recognition. Only when a pre-registered person whois authorized to discharge medicines is recognized, the medicines D canbe extracted by driving the stepping motor 25 and the like.

Description is now given of the operation of the above-structuredmedicine feeder with reference to the flow chart in FIG. 10. In themedicine feeder, medicines D are housed in each cassette 2 in the stateof being arrayed in a row. In this state, the biasing force of theconstant-load spring 6 acts on the housed medicines D through the slidemember 5, and a medicine D positioned in the forefront is held in theholding recess portion 18 of the rotor 16 positioned at the receptionposition.

If prescription data input is performed (step S1), and recognition inthe user recognition unit 32 is properly performed (step S2), then basedon the prescription data, the stepping motor 25 is driven for apredetermined period of time in the cassette 2 housing an appropriatemedicine D, by which the second link 24 rotates to the operatingposition shown in FIG. 5 from the standby position shown in FIG. 4A(step S3). By this, the rotor 16 rotates from the reception position tothe discharge position through the gear 25 a, and the medicine D held inthe holding recess portion 18 is moved to a dischargeable position onthe front side. In this case, since the notch 19 is formed on the rotor16, the medicine D can be grasped via the notch 19, thereby allowingeasy extraction of the medicine D from the holding recess portion 18. Atthis point, it is detected whether or not the medicine D is extractedfrom the holding recess portion 18 based on the detection signal in themedicine detection sensor 26 (step S4), and if it is determined that themedicine D is extracted, then the stepping motor 25 is driven in abackward direction to rotate the second link 24 from the operatingposition shown in FIG. 5 to the standby position shown in FIG. 4A (stepS5), by which the rotor 16 is rotated to the reception position.Eventually, the next medicine D is held in the holding recess portion18. Afterward, a specified quantity of medicines D are discharged in thesame manner. After that, when discharge of a specified quantity ofmedicines is completed and the rotor 16 is rotated to the receptionposition (step S6), the second link 24 is rotated from the standbyposition shown in FIG. 4A to the locked position shown in FIG. 6 (stepS7), by which the rotor 16 is disabled from rotating. As a result, itbecomes impossible to rotate the rotor 16 from the outside to extractmedicines D without permission. Therefore, even if the medicines to behandled are narcotics, dangerous drugs and the like, appropriatemanagement is achievable without paying extra attention.

It is to be noted that a quantity of the medicines D housed in thecassette 2 is detected by the encoder 11 and the remaining quantitysensor 12, which makes it possible to perform a specified display basedon the detection signal and also to provide notification if theremaining quantity becomes low. In step S3, it is also possible torotate the rotor 16 in a backward direction if a set time has passedwithout extraction of the medicine D from the holding recess portion 18so as to prevent the medicine D from being left at the extractionposition.

Further, the shape of the second link 24 is not limited to theabove-stated almost V shape but may take an almost I shape shown inFIGS. 11A and 11B. In FIGS. 11A and 11B, a position shown by a solidline is the discharge position and a position shown by a dotted line isthe locked position.

Further, although the first gear 21 is provided on the shaft portion 20of the rotor 16 and is engaged with the second gear 22, the gears 21, 22may be replaced with intermittent gears 40, 41 shown in FIG. 12. Theintermittent gear 40 is structured such that on both sides of teethportion 40 a, release recess portions 40 b, 40 c are respectively formedin succession. The intermittent gear 41 is integrated with the guideplate 42, and sequential engagement of the gears 43 to 46 transmitsdriving force of a motor 47. The rotor 16 is rotated only when the teethportions 40 a, 41 a of the intermittent gears 40, 41 are engaged. Whenthe motor 47 is driven in the forward direction to rotate the rotor 16from the reception position to the discharge position, a circularportion 41 b of the intermittent gear 41 slides through the releaserecess portion 40 b to securely prevent further rotation. If the motor47 is driven in the backward direction, the teeth portions 40 a, 41 a ofthe intermittent gears 40, 41 are engaged again to rotate the rotor 16from the discharge position to the reception position. Then, thecircular portion 41 b of the intermittent gear 41 slides through therelease recess portion 40 c of the intermittent gear 40, by which therotor 16 is positioned at the reception position. Therefore, withouthigh-precision management of the driving time of the motor 47, the rotor16 can be securely positioned at both the discharge position and thereception position. In addition, when the circular portion 41 b ispositioned at the release recess portions 40 b, 40 c, the rotor 16 is inthe locked state and cannot be rotated by operation from the outside.

Further, although the cassettes 2 are horizontally disposed so as to bestacked in a vertical direction, they can also be disposed vertically orat a slant. This make it possible to arbitrarily change the shape of thestock shelf 1 according to installation space. For example, in the casewhere the installation space of the stock shelf 1 can be formed only onthe lower side, the cassette 2 may be disposed vertically and themedicines D may be structured to be extracted from the upper face side.Further, the cassette 2 can be disposed sideways so that vials and thelike are disposed with their lid sides facing upward.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show an encoder in another embodiment. Herein, adisc-shaped encoder is replaced with a long plate-shaped encoder. Moreparticularly, there is disposed an encoder 51 having a plurality ofslits 50 formed at specified intervals in parallel with a slide shaft 52extending from the front side to the back side. Moreover, aconstant-load spring 53 and a position detection sensor 54 are slidablymounted on the slide shaft 52. A spring portion 53 a of theconstant-load spring 53 is fixed to the front side, and a slide member55 integrated with the constant-load spring 53 presses the medicines Din the cassette 2 toward the front side. The position detection sensor54 detects the slits 50 of the encoder 51, and its detection signal isused to identify the position of the slide member 55, i.e., a quantityof the medicines D in the cassette 2.

FIG. 14 shows a rotational driving mechanism of a rotor 16 in anotherembodiment. In the rotational driving mechanism, a pinion 60 isreciprocally moved in backward and forward directions (longitudinaldirection in FIG. 14) by a solenoid (not shown) or the like, by which arack 61 is rotated so as to position the rotor 16 (herein not shown) atthe reception position and the discharge position, respectively, througha link 63 against the biasing force of a spring 62.

FIGS. 15A and 15B show a discharge mechanism in another embodiment. Inthis discharge mechanism, a discharge plate 71, which is rotatablearound a spindle 70, is provided instead of the rotor 16. On one edge ofthe discharge plate 71, a first coupling portion 72 which couples with amedicine D1 positioned in the forefront is formed, while on the otheredge of the discharge plate 71, a second coupling portion 73 which cansupport the next medicine D2 is formed. The discharge plate 71 rotatesthrough a gear 74 by driving of a motor (not shown). The medicines D inthe cassette 2 are biased toward the front side by a spring 75 providedon the back side, and an inclined plate 76 is provided at the dischargeposition on the front side.

In such a discharge mechanism, for discharging the medicines, a motor(not shown) is driven to rotate the removing portion 71 counterclockwiseas shown in FIG. 15B. Consequently, the coupling state by the 72 firstcoupling portion is cancelled, and the medicine D1 positioned in theforefront slides down the inclined plate 76. At this point, the secondcoupling portion 73 couples with the next medicine D2, which makes itpossible to reliably discharge only the medicine D1 in the forefront.

FIG. 17 to FIG. 22 show a rotational driving mechanism of a rotor 16 instill another embodiment. In the rotational driving mechanism, on ashaft portion 20 protruding from the central section on both the endfaces of a rotor 16 provided on a cassette 2, discs 101, 102 having aguide protruding portion 100 are provided respectively. On the side ofthe disc 102, a lock member 103, shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B, isprovided. The locking member 103 has a lock frame 105 biased toward theleft side in the figure. In an indentation portion 106 on one end sideof the lock frame 105, a protrusion 107 is formed on the inner faceside, and the protrusion 107 and a groove portion 108 formed on the sideface of the cassette 2 hold the spring 104. On the other end portion ofthe lock frame 105, there is formed a coupling groove 109 which coupleswith and uncouples from the guide protruding portion 100 on the disc102. The spring 104 and the lock frame 105 are covered with a cover 110fixed to the cassette 2 except the indentation portion 106. On the cover110, there are formed a slide groove 111 through which the lock frame105 slides, a first release recess portion 112 through which theindentation portion 106 can slide, and a second release recess portion113 through which the disc 102 can rotate. Further, on the side of eachhousing portion 3 in the stock shelf 1, the intermittent gear 40 shownin FIG. 12 is replaced with a driving gear 115 having a coupling groove114 on its central section as shown in FIG. 20, the driving gear 115being coupled with and uncoupled from the guide protruding portion 100.The structure excluding the intermittent gear 40 is identical to thatshown in FIG. 12. On one side wall constituting the housing portion 3, anotch portion 116 is formed so that the coupling groove 114 of thedriving gear 115 is exposed. Consequently, when the cassette 2 ismounted on the housing portion 3, the guide protruding portion 100 cancouple with the coupling groove 114. It is to be noted that by mountingof the cassette 2, a contact portion 117, with which the indentationportion 106 of the lock frame 105 comes into contact, is formed on theside face of the housing portion 3.

FIGS. 23A and 23B show an example of the rotational driving mechanism ofa rotor 16 in still another embodiment. The rotational driving mechanismis provided on a casing 80 attached to each housing portion 3 in thestock shelf 1, and driving force of a motor 81 is transmitted to adriving gear 85 through a worm gear 82, a worm wheel 83 and anintermediate gear 84.

The top face and the side face of the casing 80 are open and the sideface is closed by a cover 86. On one end face of the casing 80, athrough hole 80 a is formed, and a bearing portion 81 a of the motor 81is fixed to the through hole 80 a. The worm gear 82 is fixed to aspindle 81 b protruding from the bearing portion 81 a of the motor 81and is disposed in the casing 80. The worm wheel 83, the intermediategear 84 and the driving gear 85 are rotatably mounted on the cover 86.The intermediate gear 84 has a structure integrated with an intermittentgear 84 a and a spur gear 84 b, and the spur gear 84 b is engaged withthe worm wheel 83 while the intermittent gear 84 a can engage with thedriving gear 85. An intermittent gear is used in the driving gear 85,and on the top end face of the driving gear 85, a guide piece 85 bprotruding at a specified interval is formed. In the state in which thecover 86 is attached to the casing 80 with a screw or the like, the wormwheel 83, the intermediate gear 84 and the driving gear 85 arepositioned in the casing 80, with the worm wheel 83 engaging with theworm gear 82.

The cassette 2 housed in the housing portion 3 has a rotor 16 on one endside as with the structure shown in the above-described FIG. 18, and onone side of a shaft portion 20 protruding from both end portions of therotor 16, a guide protruding portion 100, guided by the guide piece 85 bof the driving gear 85, is formed.

When the cassette 2 is mounted on the housing section 3 having theabove-structured rotational driving mechanism, the rotor 16 is coupledwith the torque transmission member 90. Consequently, by operating aprotruding portion of the torque transmission member 90, the rotor 16rotates, and the torque transmission member 90 is positioned at thedischarge position or the reception position, so that the medicines Dhoused in the cassette 2 are discharged one by one. In the state thatthe rotor 16 is rotated to the reception position, the first gear 91,the second gear 92 and the third gear 93 rotate, and the slider 94 movesto a position shown in FIG. 24C. Then, at this position, the latch 96couples with the coupling protruding portion 94 a. As a result, theslider 94 is disabled from moving, and the torque transmission member90, i.e., the rotor 16, is positioned at the discharge position throughthe third gear 93, the second gear 92 and the first gear 91. If thecoupling state by the latch 96 is cancelled by further pressing down theprotruding portion of the torque transmission member 90, the slider 94moves to a position shown in FIG. 24B by biasing force of the spring 95,so that the third gear 93 rotates. At this time, by virtue of the damper97, rapid rotation of the third gear 93 is prevented. Therefore, therotational velocity of the torque transmission member 90 which rotatesthrough the second gear 92 and the first gear 91 is suppressed, and sothe rotor 16 smoothly returns to the reception position.

FIGS. 24A, 24B and 24C show an example of the rotational drivingmechanism of a rotor 16 in still another embodiment. The rotationaldriving mechanism is provided on each housing portion 3 in the stockshelf 1, and has a torque transmission member 90. When the cassette 2 ishoused in the housing portion 3, a shaft portion 20 of a rotor 16provided on one end portion of the cassette 2 couples with the torquetransmission member 90 so as to rotate integrally. Also, the torquetransmission member 90 is integrated with a first gear 91, and a slider94 is interlocked with a second gear 92 and a third gear 93. The firstgear 91 is formed by integrating spur gears 91 a, 91 b. The second gear92 is formed by integrating spur gears 92 a, 92 b each engaged with thespur gears 91 a, 91 b of the first gear 91. The spur gear 92 a engageswith a gear provided on a spindle of a motor (not shown), while the spurgear 92 b engages with the third gear 93. The slider 94 is biased in adirection away from the rotor 16 by the biasing force of a spring 95. Acoupling protruding portion 94 a is formed on the slider 94, and a latch96 is coupled with the coupling protruding portion 94 a so that therotor 16 is positioned at the discharge position shown in FIG. 24C.Further, a damper 97 is provided on the third gear 93 for alleviatingrapid rotation caused by the biasing force of the spring 95 when thelatch 96 is released.

In the housing portion 3 having the above-structured rotational drivingmechanism, when the cassette 2 is mounted thereon, the rotor 16 coupleswith the torque transmission member 90. Consequently, a motor (notshown) is driven to have rotation in forward and backward directions,and the rotor 16 rotates through the torque transmission member 90 so asto be positioned at the discharge position or the reception position, bywhich the medicines D housed in the cassette 2 are discharged singly(i.e., one at a time). When the rotor 16 is in the state of beingrotated to the discharge position, the first gear 91, the second gear 92and the third gear 93 rotate and the slider 94 moves to a position shownin FIG. 24C. Then, at this position, the latch 96 couples with thecoupling protruding portion 94 a. As a result, the slider 94 is disabledfrom moving, and the torque transmission member 90, i.e., the rotor 16,is positioned at the discharge position through the third gear 93, thesecond gear 92 and the first gear 91. If the coupling state by the latch96 is cancelled, the slider 94 moves to a position shown in FIG. 24B bythe biasing force of the spring 95, so that the third gear 93 rotates.At this time, by virtue of the damper 97, rapid rotation of the thirdgear 93 is prevented. Therefore, the rotational velocity of the torquetransmission member 90 which rotates through the second gear 92 and thefirst gear 91 is suppressed, and so the rotor 16 smoothly returns to thereception position.

FIGS. 43 to 45 show an example of the rotational driving mechanism of arotor 16 in still another embodiment. The rotational driving mechanismis provided in each housing portion 3 in the stock shelf 1. In the statethat the cassette 2 is mounted on the housing portion 3, driving forceof a motor 120 is transmitted from a driving gear 121 provided on itsspindle 120 a to a driven gear 124 provided on a shaft portion of therotor 16 through a first intermediate gear 122 and a second intermediategear 123, by which the rotor 16 is rotated. The first intermediate gear122 is provided on one end portion of a shaft member 125, and a cam 126is attached to the other end portion of the shaft member 125. The cam126 has a pressing piece 127 and rotates around the shaft member 125 sothat the pressing piece 127 presses one end portion of a first link 128,which is rotated around a spindle 128 a. The first link 128 has aconnecting recess portion 129 in one end portion, and on the connectingrecess portion 129, a connecting portion 131 formed on one end side of asecond link 130 which is rotatably provided around a spindle 130 a isslidably positioned. On the other end portion of the second link 130, acoupling portion 132 is formed, and the coupling portion 132 can becoupled with a coupling hole 2 b formed on the bottom face of thecassette 2. The second link 130 is biased counterclockwise in FIG. 4A bya spring 133 externally mounted on the spindle 130 a. The firstintermediate gear 122 is formed by integrating a first gear 122 a formedfrom a helical gear and a second gear 122 b formed from a spur gear. Thefirst gear 122 a engages with the driving gear 121. The secondintermediate gear 123 is formed by integrating a first gear 123 a formedfrom a spur gear which is engaged with the first gear 122 a of the firstintermediate gear 122 and a second gear 123 b formed from anintermittent gear. The driven gear 121 is formed from an intermittentgear similar to the second gear 123 b of the second intermediate gear123, and operates with the intermediate gear 123 only in the range of aspecified angle at which the second intermediate gear 123 rotates torotate the rotor 16. The structure for rotating the rotor 16 by using anintermittent gear is similar to that shown in FIG. 12.

If the cassette 2 having the above-structured rotational drivingmechanism is mounted on the housing portion 3, the coupling portion 132of the second link 130 is coupled with the coupling hole 2 b of thecassette 2 as shown in FIG. 45A. Also in the rotor 16, the driven gear121 is partially engaged with the second gear 123 b of the secondintermediate gear 123, which prevents rotation by manual operation.

In the case of discharging medicines from the cassette 2, the motor 120is driven in a forward direction so as to rotate the rotor 16 througheach of the gears 121, 122, 123 and 124. The driving of the motor 120 inthe forward direction rotates the first intermediate gear 122counterclockwise, by which the driven gear 124 rotates from a positionshown in FIG. 45B to a position shown in FIG. 45C. As a result, therotor 16 is rotated from the reception position at which the medicine inthe cassette 2 can be held in the holding recess portion 18 to thedischarge position for discharging the medicines from the cassette 2.Consequently, the medicine held in the holding recess portion 18 of therotor 16 is discharged. In this state, the pressing piece 127 of the cam126 comes into contact with one end portion of the first link 128, whichprevents the first link 128 from rotating. Therefore, the couplingportion 132 of the second link 130 maintains the coupling state with thecoupling hole 2 b of the cassette 2, which securely prevents thecassette 2 from falling from the housing portion 3 during a dischargeoperation of the medicines.

When discharge of the medicines is completed, the motor 120 is driven ina backward direction to rotate the rotor 16 from the discharge positionto the reception position.

FIG. 25 to FIG. 42 show examples of display on an operation displaypanel 200. FIG. 25 shows a fingerprint recognition screen in the stepS2. When the fingerprint recognition is performed, the display isswitched to the screen shown in FIG. 26, and if OK button is selected,the display shifts to a various operations screen shown in FIG. 27,while if NG button is operated, the display returns to the fingerprintrecognition screen.

In the various operations screen, there is displayed an anticancer drugmanagement menu including a discharge operation button, a mastermaintenance button, an inquiry operation button, a replenishingoperation button, a daily report button and an end button.

When the discharge operation button is operated, the display is switchedto an auto/manual screen shown in FIG. 28. If the auto button isoperated, the display is switched to a processed clients list screenshown in FIG. 29, and automatic medicine discharge processing isstarted.

In the processing clients list screen, prescription data is read, andclient IDs, client names, departments and wards of the clients withunprocessed prescription are automatically displayed. By selecting adesired line, the display is switched to a discharge operating screenshown in FIG. 30, and information on a selected client (client ID,issued date, etc.) and the entire prescription details of the client aredisplayed. In this screen, a discharge quantity and the like arechecked, and operations including addition, deletion and modificationare performed. When the discharge button is operated, each line on thescreen is displayed in reverse video in sequence from the top line anddischarge processing is started.

In the discharge processing, inventory information on the cassette 2housing an appropriate medicine is checked and if the medicine is out ofstock, then a message thereof is displayed and the data is stored asunfinished information before inventory check for the next medicine isstarted. If the medicine is in supply, then discharge is started, and inthe line of the pertinent medicine on the discharge operation screen, astatus report for reporting the progress of the medicine discharge isdisplayed (e.g., showing a bar chart indicating the percentages ofaccomplishment). On the screen, the line that the discharge processingis completed is displayed in red, the line during discharge processingis displayed in green, and the line that the discharge processing isunfinished is displayed in white. It is to be noted that if the manualbutton is operated on the auto/manual screen, the display is directlyswitched to the processing clients list screen, and after pertinent datais inputted in each item, the same processing is performed.

In the case where the discharge processing is interrupted during theprocessing, e.g., the case where by a weight sensor, a specified time ispassed after an operator is away from the medicine feeder, or the casewhere the feeder is stopped due to errors and the like, the display isreturned to an initial screen and processing is continued only when thefingerprint recognition is performed again. Further, in the case wherean operator wants to perform the processing later, operating asuspension button (not shown) allows suspension of the processing. Inthis case, as with the case of interruption, the processing is restartedonly when the fingerprint recognition is performed again. It is to benoted that in the case of interruption, if an operator is the sameperson, the previously interrupted processing is forcedly restarted (thedisplay returns to the interrupted screen).

When the inquiry operation button is operated, the display is switchedto an inquiry operation menu screen shown in FIG. 31, where aprescription history inquiry button, a medicine administration searchbutton, a medicine usage button, a medicine usage per doctor button,medicine usage per ward button, a medicine usage per controlled medicinebutton and an end button are displayed. By operating the prescriptionhistory inquiry button, a prescription history inquiry screen shown inFIG. 32 can be displayed and the prescription history can be inquired.By operating the medicine administration search button, a medicineadministration search screen shown in FIG. 33 can be displayed and usedfor checking the inventory when inventory figures are questionable. Byoperating the medicine usage button, a medicine usage screen shown inFIG. 34 can be displayed and a list of medicine usage by administrationdate can be indicated. By operating the medicine usage per doctorbutton, a medicine usage per doctor screen shown in FIG. 36 can bedisplayed to confirm which doctors use which medicines and the quantity.By operating the medicine usage per ward button, a medicine usage perward screen shown in FIG. 37 can be displayed to confirm usage ofmedicines per ward. By operating the medicine usage per controlledmedicine button, the medicine usage per controlled medicine screen shownin FIG. 38 can be displayed to check the medicines required to becontrolled such as psychotropic drugs by each medicine.

When the master maintenance button is operated, the display is switchedto a master maintenance screen shown in FIG. 30, where a client masterbutton, a medicine master button and the like are displayed. Byoperating the medicine master button, the display is switched to amedicine master screen shown in FIG. 40, where a list of medicineinformation can be displayed. In the screen, a reference inventoryquantity refers to a maximum inventory capacity of medicines, and anappropriate inventory quantity refers to a minimum inventory quantitywhich requires replenishment.

By operating the replenishing operation button, the display is switchedto a replenishing operation screen shown in FIG. 35, where a list of areplenishment quantity, a medicine quantity before replenishment, and amedicine quantity after replenishment per cassette 2 can be displayed.

By operating the daily report button, the display is switched to a dailyreport menu screen shown in FIG. 41, where a discharge daily reportbutton and a daily report on replenishment button are displayed. Byoperating the replenishment daily report button, the display is switchedto a replenishment daily report screen shown in FIG. 42, where a list ofreplenishment status of medicines can be displayed by inputting adesired data for the status output. This makes it possible to checkreplenishment errors and the like.

1. A medicine feeder, comprising: a cassette for housing medicinecontainers in a linear array; a biasing member for biasing the lineararray of medicine containers in the cassette toward one end side of thecassette; and a discharge member disposed on one end portion of thecassette so as to be rotatable between a reception position and anextraction position, wherein the discharge member includes: a holdingrecess portion for holding only one of the medicine containers biased bythe biasing member upon rotation to the reception position and formaintaining a holding state of the held medicine container so that themedicine container can be extracted from outside upon rotation to theextraction position; and a support face formed on an opposite siderelative to the holding recess portion so as to be able to support anext medicine container when the discharge member rotates to theextraction position.
 2. The medicine feeder as defined in claim 1,further comprising: a medicine detection member for detecting whether ornot a medicine is present in the holding recess portion when thedischarge member is positioned at the extraction position; and a controldevice for allowing driving of the discharge member based onprescription data and a detection signal from the medicine detectionmember.
 3. The medicine feeder as defined in claim 2, further comprisinga lock member for disabling the discharge member from rotating, whereinthe control device controls the lock member so as to lock the dischargemember at the reception position when discharge of a prescribed quantityof medicines based on prescription data is completed.
 4. The medicinefeeder as defined in claim 1, wherein the discharge member has notchesto facilitate holding of the medicine container, and the notches arelocated on opposite walls constituting the holding recess portion.
 5. Amedicine feeder, comprising: a cassette for housing medicine containersarranged in a linear array; a biasing member for biasing the medicinecontainers in the linear array in the cassette toward one end side ofthe cassette; a discharge member disposed on one end portion of thecassette so as to be rotatable between a reception position and anextraction position; and a medicine quantity detection member fordetecting a quantity of the medicines in the cassette; wherein themedicine quantity detection member includes: a sensor for detecting abiased position by the biasing member in an initial state wheremedicines are not housed in the cassette; and an encoder for detecting achange in the position of the biasing member, caused by housing themedicines in the cassette, from the initial state detected by thesensor.
 6. A medicine feeder, comprising: a cassette for housingmedicine containers arranged in a linear array; a biasing member forbiasing the medicine containers in the cassette toward one end side ofthe cassette while in the linear array; and a discharge member disposedon one end portion of the cassette for holding one of the medicinecontainers in a holding recess portion and discharging the medicinecontainers one by one through rotating movement of the discharge member,wherein the discharge member comprises a rotor, and an outercircumferential face of the rotor for supporting a next medicinecontainer is formed so as not to change a position of the next medicinecontainer due to the rotating movement.
 7. A medicine feeder,comprising: a cassette for housing medicine containers in a lineararray; a biasing member for biasing the medicine containers in thecassette toward one end side of the cassette while in the linear array;a discharge member disposed on one end portion of the cassette forholding one of the medicine containers in a holding recess portion anddischarging the medicine containers one by one through rotating movementof the discharge member, wherein the discharge member includes a rotor;and a control device for allowing driving of the rotor based onprescription data, wherein the control device is operable toautomatically return the rotor to a standby position if a specified timehas passed while the rotor is positioned at a discharge position.
 8. Amedicine feeder, comprising: a cassette for housing medicine containersin a linear array; a biasing member for biasing the medicine containersin the cassette toward one end side of the cassette while in the lineararray; and a discharge member disposed on one end portion of thecassette for holding one of the medicine containers in a holding recessportion and discharging the medicine containers one by one throughrotating movement of the discharge member, wherein the cassette isdisposed so that housed medicine containers are arrayed in a horizontaldirection so as to be discharged one by one in sequence from the one endside by the discharge member.
 9. A medicine feeder, comprising: acassette for housing medicine containers in a linear array; a biasingmember for biasing the medicine containers in the cassette toward oneend side of the cassette while in the linear array; and a dischargemember disposed on one end portion of the cassette for holding one ofthe medicine containers in a holding recess portion and discharging themedicine containers one by one through rotating movement of thedischarge member, wherein the cassette is disposed so that the housedmedicine containers are arrayed in a vertical direction so as to bedischarged one by one in sequence from an upper end of the cassette bythe discharge member.
 10. A medicine feeder, comprising: a cassette forhousing medicine vials in a linear array; a biasing member for biasingthe medicine vials in the cassette toward one end side of the cassettewhile in the linear array; and a discharge member disposed on one endportion of the cassette for holding one of the medicine vials in aholding recess portion and discharging the medicine vials one by onethrough rotating movement of the discharge member, wherein the cassetteis disposed so that the medicine vials, each of which has an upperaperture closed by a lid, are housed in a state of being arrayed in ahorizontal direction in a standing position.
 11. A medicine feeder,comprising: a cassette for housing medicine containers in a lineararray; a biasing member for biasing the medicine containers in thecassette toward one end side of the cassette while in the linear array;and a discharge member disposed on one end portion of the cassette forholding one of the medicine containers in a holding recess portion anddischarging the medicine containers one by one through rotating movementof the discharge member, wherein the discharge member comprises a rotor,and the cassette is structured so as to be mounted on and dismountedfrom each housing portion of a stock shelf and the cassette has a lockmember for preventing the rotor from rotating when the cassette isdismounted from the housing portion.
 12. The medicine feeder as definedin claim 2, wherein the discharge member has notches to facilitateholding of the medicine, and the notches are located on opposite wallsconstituting the holding recess portion.
 13. The medicine feeder asdefined in claim 3, wherein the discharge member has notches tofacilitate holding of the medicine, and the notches are located onopposite walls constituting the holding recess portion.